U.S. Now Builds a Hydrogen Economy

 The U.S. Dept. of Energy's Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs Program uses economic clusters to drive innovation, cut costs, and accelerate green hydrogen adoption across the country, the Observer website reports today (August 26, 2024).

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, passed by Congress in 2021, includes up to $7 billion to fund a Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs Program. The U.S. Dept. of Energy administrator states that its goal is to facilitate  the creation of "large--scale commercially viable hydrogen ecosystems." 

The term "cluster" as an economic construct was explained by Harvard Business School Professor Michael Porter in 1998 as "geographic concentration of interconnected companies and institutions in a particular field." The great benefit of clusters, Porter says, is that they encourage interactions across cluster members that foster a variety of productivity enhancements. "The enduring competitive advantages in a global economy lie increasingly in local things -- knowledge, relationships, motivation -- that distant rivals cannot match."